The 53-year-old man on the video, taken on Nov. 18, argues and struggles with police before an ambulance arrives. He was found to be in medical distress inside the ambulance. CPR was administered, but he was declared dead at the scene. A medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

The videos provide insight into how the Seattle Police Department is handling its new body cam program after years of debate and negotiation. Some portions of video are blacked out or blurred. Audio is removed at other times. The camera’s view is also often blocked as the officer’s arms move around.

Since then, body cameras have been used by some officers. The department began using the footage for public transparency around such shootings and deaths.

The body cam video

The 27-minute long body cam footage from Nov. 18 shows a couple officers engaging the man on the side of the road at North 105th Street and Aurora Avenue North. The man was reportedly in the middle of the street. He appeared paranoid, telling officers that he was being chased, but refused to say by whom. He said he didn’t believe the officers were real cops.

Officers tried to give him a ride home. The man refused and the police left in their patrol car, watching the man as they slowly drove away.

“Man, I do not want to use force on this guy in the middle of this intersection,” an officer said on the video.

But the man did return to the middle of the intersection as drivers honked at him. The police returned to get him out of the street and wrestle him to the ground.

“Please, I need help!” the man screamed. “Call an ambulance. I have a right to an ambulance!”

At least five officers struggled with the man as he was held to the ground. The man yelled that “he’s going to poke me.” Officers instructed the man to relax and to stop kicking. At one point during the struggle on the ground, the man stopped yelling. Officers noticed the change and made sure he was still breathing. They asked him questions, but the man was unresponsive.

“He decides to take a nap now …” one officer said on the video.

None of the officers seemed concerned about the state of the man at this point. They loaded him onto a gurney and into an ambulance. At the end of the video, as the man was inside the ambulance and someone said he was not breathing. An officer can be heard calling for medics from the fire department, giving details about a 45-year-old man with low breathing.